The network used fake advertisements for the adoption or purchase of puppies, demanding successive payments for vaccines, transport, or cages, before disappearing without delivering the animal, according to the Civil Guard.

Three members of the clan isolated an octogenarian man from his environment, forcing him to beg and using his data to open bank accounts, with which they committed scams exceeding 36,000 euros.

In addition to the scams, the group fraudulently received over 560,000 euros in social benefits, such as guaranteed income, and invested the illicit money in cryptocurrencies.

The investigation, which began in February 2025, culminated in the release of the elderly man and the arrest of nineteen people in Vizcaya and Burgos. 121 victims of fraud and ten of identity theft have been identified across thirty provinces, including Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, and Lleida.